CANADA: DIY Oil Change Voids Warranty?

[2013RogueSE]

Got a call from my dealer today, they wanted to remind me to get my oil changed as it has been 3 months since. Told the girl on the phone that I did the oil change myself, she says, that since I have a new car I should get it done at the dealer as doing it myself will void my warranty. WTF? I told her I keep documentation, etc., I ended up calling Nissan Canada customer service, spoke to one female named Rene, she said I must get the oil changed at a Nissan dealer as either doing it myself or getting it done at a non Nissan garage will void my warranty, no matter if I kept the documentation or not. This is news to me. I thought there were many other who were doing oil changes themselves in Canada as well.. I know U.S. has a special act for things like this called the Magnom Moss Act which let's you do your own maintenance, however, I think we people in Canada are screwed. I love to do the oil changes myself, as I know I have done a good job, and I keep all the receipts etc., however, hearing this from Nissan Canada's representative has me really worried.

[casperfun]

IMHO, I think anybody who does their own oil change should not dwell on the idea that it might be voiding their warranty. It just seems like a waste of time. I feel that if your changing your oil, you already show that you care about car maintenance. The chance of a oil-related engine failure is zero to none with proper maintenance.

When was the last time you heard about an engine exploding or failing? Not even on Bitog did I ever read about an engine failing because the oil was changed routinely.

If anything, oil related problems only come to those who never change their oil.

my 2 cents.

[sprocket]

2013RogueSE, I don't believe that is true but my advice would be to:

1) Call Nissan Canada 1 800 387-0122

2) Confirm what you need to do to maintain warranty if you perform scheduled maintenance by yourself or at an independent auto store.

In the 2013 WARRANTY INFORMATION BOOKLET FOR CANADIAN MODELS:
http://www.nissan.ca/content/dam/nissan ... rranty.pdf

What You Must Do
You are responsible for properly maintaining your vehicle, depending upon your driving conditions as outlined in the Service and Maintenance Guide and Section 7 Appearance and Care in the Owners Manual.

MAINTENANCE AND RECORDS
(Owner’s or Lessee Expense)
You are responsible for properly maintaining your vehicle, depending upon your driving conditions, as outlined in the Service and Maintenance Guide and in Section 7 Appearance and Care in the Owners Manual.
You are responsible for any parts and labour costs incurred in connection with required or recommended maintenance services. Receipts covering the performance of regular as well as the recommended maintenance must be kept in the event questions arise concerning maintenance. The receipts or a copy of them must be transferred to subsequent owners.

It doesn't look that different from the U.S. side. It would seem that as long as all maintenance is performed as outlined by the Service and Maintenance Guide (regardless of who performs the work) and vehicle is maintained per Section 7 Appearance and Care in Owners Manual, you should be covered.

When you go to a dealer, it's documented and if any problems arise, Nissan will have to take care of it even if the maintenance was not performed properly. I know that some dealers will actually match or lower their prices for scheduled maintenance to be closer to what you'd have to pay to get similar work done at an independent repair center, it doesn't hurt to be informed and to ask.

When you go to an independent repair center, burden of proof may fall on you or the repair center if warranty claim is required and the failure could be attributed to improper maintenance. You also need to keep all documentation and make sure it outlines the work that was done. It wouldn't hurt to take/print out Nissan's scheduled maintenance and have the independent repair center document that they completed each required item. If there's sufficient evidence that it was the fault of the independent repair center (example: wrong oil used, didn't tighten drain plug sufficiently, etc), Nissan can deny the claim and the independent repair center will have to take responsibility for it, so make sure you pick one that's reputable and has a well documented policy.

Again, call the Nissan # above and confirm with them prior to deciding.

As for the 3 month thing, it may be true, check your manual/service guide requirements.
In the U.S., we have different schedules depending on use. 3 months or 3750 miles (~ 6000km) is Schedule 1.
I found this on Nissan Canada's website and it lists Schedule 1 but doesn't specify months. If it's same as U.S., then it probably is 3 months or 6,000km, whichever comes first http://consumer.xtime.com/menu6/?varian ... rame=false

My local dealership has a habit of trying to push Schedule 1 (very 3,750 miles) by default and tries to get me to do synth or synth-blend but I always steer them back to Schedule 2 (every 7,500 miles) because it makes more sense ... well, I lie, I actually go in every 5,000 miles since it is better than required and lines up with Schedule 2's 15,000 mile intervals perfectly

Good luck, do share what you find out when you call, someone else may benefit from it.

[ImStricken06]

contact a lawyer; i am almost positive thats illegal.

[2013RogueSE]

I'm not having any oil or engine related problems, so, it really wouldn't be of any benefit to get in touch with a lawyer ATM. However, I did call a few dealers and talked to their service departments and out of the 5-6 that I called only 1 female service adviser said that I actually needed to do the oil changes at the dealership to not void my warranty. The rest of the service advisers said that as I long as keep all the receipts and documentation, it should all be good. One service adviser said that oil is hygroscopic and has a shelf life after I told him that I had bought 5 jugs of synthetic 5w30 oil on sale and that receipt should be sufficient, than after a bit of insight from me, he retracted his statement saying that as long is it's kept sealed, it should be ok, lol. I know oil is not hygroscopic like brake fluid. Obviously you wouldn't keep it in an open container anyways. The same service adviser also advised that I should keep coming to the dealership for other maintenance like brake service and tire rotations which will give me goodwill with the dealership if there are any warranty related issues down the road. Which is bull, I can easily do those things myself. That's like saying keep feeding the dealership with profit if you want your warranty honored.

Also, more about the conversation I had with the girl at Nissan Canada, she was basically saying that receipts are not good enough and even getting it done at an independent garage is also not good enough because Nissan doesn't know if the person doing the oil change did it right or not, things like if they tightened the drain plug to spec or the oil filter installed correctly. And I told her if that was the case that would be pretty obvious after I left the garage and of course in such a case the person or garage that did the work would be liable. For example if my oil leaked out right after getting an oil change done.

However, if the oil change was done right and the engine failure was not related to the oil change or oil related than the Nissan warranty should cover that failure. However, she wouldn't budge, she kept saying that there are so many variables that we just don't know, and to keep your warranty I should always get it done at a Nissan dealership. I said to her, if that is the case, than Nissan should provide oil changes for free, because what she is saying is basically called tied selling, which is again illegal and against anti-competition laws. However, even after all the reasons and logic I tried to talk to her, she still kept saying that it should be done at the dealership. Her name was Rene. Maybe someone else here should call the Nissan Canada help line "customer care" and put some sense into her. Or maybe one of the Nissan reps that frequent this board can give us more insight into this.

From what I remember from reading some posts here in this forum, there is a member who even held some diy oil change classes for the dealer where he had bought his Rogue, so if changing your own oil voids the warranty why would a dealer be party to such diy maintenance classes?

[ImStricken06]

i would call up nissan HQ and ask them to point to where in the warranty, it states what they are claiming. threaten to sue them, and hit the media.

[2013RogueSE]

That's the number I called, it's Nissan HQ in Canada. Their address is: 5290 Orbitor Dr, Mississauga ON, L4W 4Z5, phone number are 800-387-0122 toll free and 905-629-2888. After going through a few hoops I got Rene on the phone. I even asked her to consult with one of her superiors when she was giving me this info and she came back with the same logic, it's either done by the dealer or warranty is void. I will keep doing the oil changes myself for now and maybe even taking some pictures or making a video of them for even more documentation and hopefully no engine troubles will arise and if they do and Nissan decides not to honor their warranty then I will either get a lawyer and take it to the media.

That's another thing I said to Rene, that I will start making videos of my oil changes for now on so it may serve as a better proof than just keeping the receipts, but still she kept saying it didn't matter. There was no way to change her mind. Maybe this will be my last Nissan, after this I should get a written statement from the manufacturer before buying any new car that diy oil change with proof of receipts will be enough to honor the warranty on the engine.

Maybe it's high time that Canada adopted something similar to the Magnum Moss Act which will protect consumer's rights.

[Black B15]

I don't know how it works in Canada, but down here virtually every major local news network runs a "conusmer protection" kind of segment. If this happened to me, AND if there were no Magnusson Moss to fall back on, I would contact the local news station and see if they wanted to do a news story on this.

Changing your own oil is preventative maintenance. Requiring for warranty purposes that an owner ONLY bring their vehicle to Nissan for oil changes is ludacris, and is really about money in my opinion. TOTAL s***. I would keep making phone calls until something happened.

I would have told that Rene to refund my f*cking purchase price, and I will wheel this POS nissan back over to their s*** lot. IF this is something that Nissan does in Canada, I am of the mindset that consumers should be notified BEFORE purchasing.

[ImStricken06]

I don't know how it works in Canada, but down here virtually every major local news network runs a "conusmer protection" kind of segment. If this happened to me, AND if there were no Magnusson Moss to fall back on, I would contact the local news station and see if they wanted to do a news story on this.

Changing your own oil is preventative maintenance. Requiring for warranty purposes that an owner ONLY bring their vehicle to Nissan for oil changes is ludacris, and is really about money in my opinion. TOTAL bullsh*t. I would keep making phone calls until something happened.

I would have told that Rene to refund my f*cking purchase price, and I will wheel this POS nissan back over to their s*** lot. IF this is something that Nissan does in Canada, I am of the mindset that consumers should be notified BEFORE purchasing.

well said homie

[2013RogueSE]

I don't know how it works in Canada, but down here virtually every major local news network runs a "conusmer protection" kind of segment. If this happened to me, AND if there were no Magnusson Moss to fall back on, I would contact the local news station and see if they wanted to do a news story on this.

Changing your own oil is preventative maintenance. Requiring for warranty purposes that an owner ONLY bring their vehicle to Nissan for oil changes is ludacris, and is really about money in my opinion. TOTAL bullsh*t. I would keep making phone calls until something happened.

I would have told that Rene to refund my f*cking purchase price, and I will wheel this POS nissan back over to their s*** lot. IF this is something that Nissan does in Canada, I am of the mindset that consumers should be notified BEFORE purchasing.

+1
I would definitely take it to that level and even more if I had an engine related warranty claim that was denied only because I did my own oil changes. Now, I understand if the damage is done due to my negligence in not properly doing the oil change, for example, say if I double gasketed the oil filter or didn't put the drain plug back in tight enough and it becomes loose during driving and all oil leaked out and killed the engine or caused damage, of course Nissan would be off the hook, however, if everything was done right and to spec using quality materials like a 5w30 synthetic and a good brand name filter and none of those components failed to cause the damage, and as long as I have receipts for the said merchandise and a log of when the oil was changed, warranty should definitely be honored.

This all started from getting an oil change reminder call from the Stealership, when I mentioned to the girl that I had done the oil change myself, she said the warranty for the Rogue will be voided or can be voided so I followed up with Nissan HQ and you guys already know what happened from there. Just a heads up to everyone in Canada who does their own oil changes maybe you guys should also make a call and see what kind of a response you get and post here. It might be interesting to see if you get a different person on the phone with a different response.

[RyleyinSTL]

In 'Merica the Magnuson-Moss warranty act covers this.

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/01 ... aintenance

In the Dominion, my understanding is that there really isn't equivalent legislation. However, I think the Canadian Competition Act gets the job done. This denies so called "tied selling." So Nissan cannot require you to use OEM parts/labour under the threat of voiding your warranty. The warranty is only void if they can prove that the replacement part/labour damaged your vehicle.

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts ... ge-49.html

Print off the statute and march back over the dealer. If they don't like it they can book an appointment with the Crown Prosecutor.

[2013RogueSE]

I actually hate going back to my dealer for service, they are real douchebags, I did however called their service dept to verify what the appointment lady mentioned about voiding warranty due to diy oil changes and the service advisor said that as long as you keep your receipts and come in for an odd oil change, tire rotation, etc., now and then. So, obviously these people are trying to coerce people into coming back to the dealership and spend money on premium service, which I wouldn't have a problem with if they weren't such a holes. I might take it to a dealer but definitely not this stealer.

Oh, by the way, I did mention the tied selling thing to Rene and how it was anticompetitive and against the law, however, she wouldn't budge. So, I would request all our fellow Canadians, when they get some free time to call Nissan HQ in Canada and dwell into this topic and mention Rene. Maybe if they get enough calls and hear the informed consumers it might force them to change their policies.

[Black B15]

I have a little backstory about my experience with Nissan USA. When I bought the 2012 Rogue, one of the stipulations of my purchase was that the pin stripes were removed. No problems right. They pull the Rogue up, I am literally buckling my 1 year olds car seat in the back when I look over and see this HUGE gouge out of the paint where the pin stripe ends (by the gas lid). The kid who detailed the car literally used a razor to take the pin stripes off.

VERY LONG STORY SHORT...they tried to get me to accept a repainted 2012 Nissan Rogue, which I refused. They were trying to stonewall me into taking this repainted vehicle. I was pissed. I basically told them I was going to tell every person in the known universe about this, starting with the Sentra forum that I am a moderator on. THEN, I am going to call the owner of the dealership (Van Tile). THEN I would call every freaking news station in the Valley, followed by any radio stations I could find. Once that was done, and after I had told every person I saw...I would stand on the highest mountain and scream at the top of my lungs how f*cking awful this Nissan dealership was.

Needless to say, it took them a few weeks, and took me a few calls to Nissan USA. That and threatening to contact the state about deceptive sales practices prompted them into action. I basically ended up with a few thousand dollars in price reduction (about $6000 over the life of the loan since they credited the down payment, reducing my interest rate even more) and a VIN swap to another brand new 2012 Rogue S Special Edition in black.

I was so exhausted after all of that, but the point is that you cannot let these clowns get away with anything. To add insult to injury, they still tried to sneak that extended warranty and full service package into the financing. I was cancelling this when the guy let slip that they had to sell that scratched Rogue for an $8000 LOSS because of what it did to the value. I about jumped out of my chair and b**** slapped that big mother, because that was the car they were trying to get me to take. I told him I could care less if they lost the entire value of the car, and basically that they could go F themselves.

WHEW...damn I am getting a little worked up again just thinking about it! I think I told one of those salespeople along the way that I was going to "come down there and drive this Rogue right up his a**". I thought that was way funnier than he did apparently.

Okay, I am good now. Gooooooooooosfraaaaba.

[Black B15]

I actually hate going back to my dealer for service, they are real douchebags, I did however called their service dept to verify what the appointment lady mentioned about voiding warranty due to diy oil changes and the service advisor said that as long as you keep your receipts and come in for an odd oil change, tire rotation, etc., now and then. So, obviously these people are trying to coerce people into coming back to the dealership and spend money on premium service, which I wouldn't have a problem with if they weren't such a holes. I might take it to a dealer but definitely not this stealer.

Oh, by the way, I did mention the tied selling thing to Rene and how it was anticompetitive and against the law, however, she wouldn't budge. So, I would request all our fellow Canadians, when they get some free time to call Nissan HQ in Canada and dwell into this topic and mention Rene. Maybe if they get enough calls and hear the informed consumers it might force them to change their policies.

Dude I would be willing to bet there is a local news station who is having a slow news day. Give em a jangle and see what they say. Nothing says viewers like a news story about things like this. In the US they actually run segments on the news title "call 5 for action" or something similar, where they help people out with things like this.

Rene sounds like a charmer by the way.

[DTASFAB]

Do we have any pics of Rene?

[2013RogueSE]

On a different note, I was just watching some Rogue reviews on youtube and noticed that they all had what seems to be a cargo area mat which says the word "Rogue" on it, not a liner but just a regular mat. I bought the 2013 FWD Rogue with SE package as my nick suggests, I did get the 4 carpeted mats for the inside of the vehicle but there was no mat for the cargo area. Can someone who also bought a 2013 model please chime in and let me know if I should've gotten this mat? Please let me know, thanks.

[Rogue One]

On a different note, I was just watching some Rogue reviews on youtube and noticed that they all had what seems to be a cargo area mat which says the word "Rogue" on it, not a liner but just a regular mat. I bought the 2013 FWD Rogue with SE package as my nick suggests, I did get the 4 carpeted mats for the inside of the vehicle but there was no mat for the cargo area. Can someone who also bought a 2013 model please chime in and let me know if I should've gotten this mat? Please let me know, thanks.

This should have been posted as a separate thread. Anyway, the carpeted cargo mat you're referring to is sold separately, not as part of the floor mat set. It's available for roughly $60-70 plus shipping through ebay, Amazon, as well as several Nissan parts suppliers.
http://www.amazon.com/2011-2013-Nissan- ... B00BPAK6LW

[2013RogueSE]

Yes, that's the one I was referring to. Thanks for the quick reply, I didn't want to start a new thread for something this minor, so I thought I just ask here.

[Rogue One]

Yes, that's the one I was referring to. Thanks for the quick reply, I didn't want to start a new thread for something this minor, so I thought I just ask here.

That's ok. You never know, some things that seem minor can wind up taking on a life of their own. And the opposite is also true, with topics that seem interesting, going nowhere. By creating a thread for a part you need (assuming no thread currently exists) allows others to more readily find your query and answer it. And if someone needs the part, they search for the thread, find the answer, and then you've helped anther member.